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The Oregonian: The military’s civil rights milestone

Later this month in Salem, Oregon's Military Department and Department of Veterans Affairs will celebrate the 60th anniversary of Harry Truman's order to integrate U.S. armed forces. They will bring in members of the Tuskegee Airmen, the World War II African American flying corps, and will feature a speech by Brig. Gen. Garry Dean, who was the Oregon National Guard's first African American general and who now serves as the Air Force's deputy inspector general.

The July 26 ceremony will celebrate Executive Order 9981, which required "equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin."

This may seem like ancient history today, but it's a timely reminder that the military, in addition to being an instrument of foreign policy, is a social crucible that moves more quickly toward fairness than American society at large.

The country wasn't ready for equality in 1948, but Harry Truman was, and over decades the military saluted and made it work, even though individual soldiers grumbled along the way. But if the armed forces hadn't integrated, they would have missed such Medal of Honor winners as Joseph Rodriguez, a Mexican American; Hiroshi Miyamura, a Japanese American; and Clarence Sasser, an African American medic who ignored his own wounds to treat dozens of his comrades during a ferocious battle in Vietnam's Mekong Delta in 1967.

While there is much to celebrate about an event that was overdue when it happened 60 years ago, the armed services shouldn't rest on its laurels. Despite the integration of minorities and women into its units, a strong subcurrent of misogyny still runs through the services. Official surveys have found that from 3 percent to 6 percent of women in the military have been raped or sexually assaulted, with just a small number of the attacks prosecuted.

Further, homosexual men and women still can't serve openly in the military, even though their sexual orientation has no bearing on their abilities to do their jobs. The military continues to discharge service members, including those with critical linguistic skills, who violate the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. More than 600 military personnel nationwide have been discharged for such violations in each of the past two years.

The military is in a position to do much to level society's playing field, simply by treating its members fairly. It is rightly proud of its record in this regard, but there is more it should do. Perhaps the next president will be as brave and independent as Harry Truman.

The July 26 ceremony begins at 10 a.m. at the Anderson Readiness Center, 3225 State St., N.E., Salem. It is open to the public.

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